blueowl

I admit I took my wife to see Rush even though she isn't a fan. I have this crazy optimism in me that keeps telling me one day she will wake up and see how great they are :) But I paid her back by taking her to see Journey :)

The more I listen to Clockwork Angels the more it reminds me of one of my other favorite Rush albums, Hemispheres, I can listen to both for hours on end without getting tired of hearing it, it continues to sound fresh. I think Clockwork Angels is a masterpiece and may only be fully appreciated in the years to come when the band stops producing.

I made a start on it last night, and I'm liking it better as it goes along. I keep feeling a strong echo from "Hemispheres" and wonder if Anderson and/or Peart might have had that theme in mind as well as CA.

I was back in section 110 and the sound was perfect there. Several times you could feel the bass and drums right through your feet shaking the floor. I thought the strings added a bit on the CA songs, but was not terribly noticeable, sort of highlighted those songs a bit. I wonder how much difference it really made. Mostly it was cool to see those folks lit up with the light changes and really getting into the songs moving back and forth. But man, I worried about the fire, didn't want to see any human torches back there

I don't know about grumpy, but I'm one of the old guys. Started listening to Rush 34 years ago. I absolutely love the CA sound. I remember how rich the old vinyl sounded, but it also popped, got scratched, skipped, and was a general PITA even though it was much richer sound than digital. We were thrilled when CDs came along, then MP3s, but the richness of the sound is gone and probably not coming back. Yet I can now carry my entire music collection with me and listen to it anywhere, always seems to be trade-offs. But if CA is loud and noisy, hell, I like it that way :-)

The first half of the show did seem a bit odd in song choice, but also kind of nice because it felt fresh. Like I said, I loved the CA part. The ending was great, bringing in the old popular stuff for a great finish. I agree the crowd seemed a bit subdued at times, likely because the songs did not seem familiar, and I don't know how many knew the CA stuff. Probably some disappointed fans because they didn't get to hear their favorite songs. I was hoping for Working Man and Limelight. But I loved 2112 at the end. Overall I enjoyed it :-)

PS--Superconductor, I don't know if your crapping guy was worse or the meth-head sitting next to me tapping me on the arm every song to ask or tell which song was from which album.

QUOTE (Silas Lang @ Sep 14 2012, 02:19 AM)

While I've been reticent to declare Clockwork Angels a masterpiece too quickly, after three months now of pretty steady listening I think I've finally been able to absorb it all and take it all in. The breadth and scope of their achievement is really quite stunning with moments of incredible power, grace, emotion and beauty. The passion and effort that went into its creation really deserves to be experienced as a complete work from beginning to end and with repeated listenings its depth and brilliance is truly revealed. So yes I'm now ready to officially to state for the record that Clockwork Angels is a masterpiece and among Rush's greatest work. A classic in every sense.

The place looked packed to me. I didn't see any empty seats in the main area of the arena.

The concert was excellent, lots of energy, the Clockwork Angels stuff was particularly good.

I picked up the book last night at the Columbus concert, which was excellent by the way, and have read some of Anderson's stuff, it's not great, but usually readable, so I have moderate expectations for the book. If it entertains I'll be happy, if it brings out more of the album I'll be ecstatic.

I no longer think there is a typical Rush fan. There are children to old geezers who can barely walk. Meth-heads like the guy sitting next to me at the concert who could barely string a sentence together, to philosophical and well-read people. My guess is the book is aimed at "general audiences" which is about as close as you can now get to current Rush fans. I'll post my specific thoughts after I read the book.